


On My Way

by roqueamadi



Category: Men in Black (Movies), Men in Black: International
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-16 19:33:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19324681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roqueamadi/pseuds/roqueamadi
Summary: AU. M hasn’t been the same since H died. Except, as it turns out, he’s not dead. Instead, to save his life, he was neuralised, and when she finally discovers he is alive, over a year later, he doesn’t even recognise her.Now, she has to make sure she doesn’t remind H of the time he forgot, or risk fatal neurological damage. But how can she hide the fact that even after a year of believing him dead, she’s still in love with him?





	On My Way

**Author's Note:**

> Get ready for an epic slow burn guys. This is the concept: an AU ending to the film where T survives, and H and M go on to be partners for a year. Then, H is killed when a mission goes wrong. This is set one year after that.
> 
> This is a story I’ve had in my head for many years. I originally wrote it for part of an original novel, however, I’ve been happily writing fanfic for the past few years and as a result my writing has (I feel at least) exponentially improved. So, even if I wanted to do something with that story, I would need to re-write it anyway. I was hesitant about using it on a fic, but I think it will actually help me develop the original version further. And it suits these characters so well - in fact even writing this first chapter has given me ideas to make the story stronger than it was originally. Obviously the characters are different - M and H are quite different personalities to my original leads, which changes things quite a bit (I haven't just stuck them in those molds or anything, they're definitely in character as per canon) - so really it’s just the setting and idea I've used (and ngl, I love this setup). I really hope you like it as well. Because of all this, I would extra appreciate feedback on the plot!
> 
> Title from the song by The Cat Empire

“Turn left, please.”

It was so hot in the taxi that Em’s forearm was sticking to the vinyl seat cover where her white shirt was rolled up above the elbow.

She half watched the tracking device in her hand, comparing it to the view outside the window. She’d taken the taxi driver far out of his normal zone, though he wasn’t complaining; she’d paid extra up front and promised to double the meter when they got… wherever they were going. It had started as a highway and now they were going up and down dirt roads, full of potholes. There was an open drain along the side of the road, and beyond that, thick jungle that burst right up to the edge of the roadway as though just waiting to take back over the man-made gap as soon as it got the chance.

The marker was finally lining up with the direction they were going, and Em sat forward in anticipation. This was it; she was finally going to identify the source of the anomaly she’d been puzzling over for months.

“Just up here,” she said aloud, holding up the device to look quickly between it and the unremarkable road. “A bit further.”

The taxi driver slowed slightly, and they continued down the dirt track. To her annoyance, the road started to bend southwards, away from the direction of the marker, and she wound the window down, peering out at the jungle on the north side. It looked completely impassable, but she was sure there was _something_ in there, something behind it.

“Is this it, maybe?” the driver asked. He drew the car to a stop. Appearing out of nowhere, so inconspicuous you’d miss it if you weren’t looking, was a small driveway leading into the jungle. A little further in, there was a high electronic security gate, and through the bars she could see the driveway continued deeper into the jungle and then curved eastwards.

“Yes, this is it,” she said confidently. High security meant there was _something_ interesting in there, and she intended to find out what.

She paid the driver as promised, but he hesitated before driving away.

“You sure you’re in the right place? I’ll give you my number in case you need to go back to town.”

He passed her a card. She took it, and nodded confidently. “This is the right place.”

“Alright.”

He drove off, stirring up dust behind him, and she felt utterly alone amongst the noise of the surrounding jungle.

Then her phone rang.

“Cee,” she said, answering. “What’s up?”

“Oh, hi Em. I know you’re on holiday, but I was just, err—just wondering what you’re doing?”

“Why?”

“Well, I’m getting an alert saying that you’re approaching a red zone.”

Em felt a thrill in her chest—this was more good news. If there were MiB system warnings around this place, that meant there was _definitely_ something good in here.

“A red zone?” she asked innocently. “Oh, well, I’m just on a hike, perhaps there’s something nearby. Do you want me to check it out?”

“Ah,” Cee sounded relieved. “No, no, definitely not. It’s saying it’s a no-go zone for MiB agents, that’s all. It’s just to the north of where you are now. Can you see anything?”

Em looked up at the high security gate, the thick bars continuing to the left and right and disappearing into the jungle. “Nope,” she said lightly. “Just jungle.”

“Well, perhaps avoid that direction, then. Where does your hiking trail go?”

“Oh, it turns to the south pretty soon I think, so I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Right, right. Good.” Cee sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, Em, I’m glad that you’re spending some spare time _not_ on your computer, for once. This alert just came up and I thought, oh no, she’s off on some personal mission and the holiday thing was all a big ruse…” he trailed into an awkward laugh, and Em laughed forcefully with him.

“No, no… Of course not. That would be ridiculous.”

“Yes,” he laughed. “In all honesty, though, I’m really glad you’re taking a break. You’ve just… since Aich died, you’ve just not been yourself. I hope the time off is good for you. Take extra time, if you need. I’m just really happy to see you doing something other than work.”

“Thanks, Cee,” Em said quietly.

“Alright, well, enjoy the hike. Have a cocktail on the beach for me.”

“Will do.”

She ended the call and took her backpack off. She unzipped it, looking through all the equipment she’d packed for this trip, taking out what she needed. She dumped the phone inside, then dropped the backpack behind a bush just to the left of the driveway. Turning the tracker off would be riskier than letting Cee think she was just taking a rest break. Besides, she would be quick.

She took a running jump for the gate, pulling herself up and over, and landed lightly on her feet on the other side.

 

The driveway was far longer than she expected. She jogged lightly along, vigilant for any movement ahead, though there was nothing except for the occasional monitor lizard darting across the path. It curved to the left and right through the jungle, heading vaguely northwards, and climbing gradually uphill.

She thought over the call with Cee and felt a stab of guilt, once again. The worst lie had been requesting leave to travel to Malaysia for a ‘beach holiday’. She couldn’t believe he wasn’t more suspicious.

She pushed him out of her head. No point worrying about it now. If she had to tell a small lie to Cee to find out the truth here, then that was just a necessary part of it. She’d been tracking this anomaly on her personal rig for months, and she just wanted to know what it was. Once Em got that spike of curiosity about something, she had the determination of a bull. She’d always been that way. This past year, especially; once she fixated on something, it was hard to break her attention long enough to even do things like eat or stand up from her chair every ten hours or so.

She slowed to a walk as the jungle started to thin out. Around the next curve, the light grew brighter, and suddenly the path opened out. Ahead of her the driveway continued up a hill across a neatly manicured grass lawn to a colonial-era building, almost a mansion, in excellent condition, perched on top of the hill. Gardens surrounded it, a small car park on one side with neatly parked cars, and as she turned the final corner in the path and came in full view of it, to the east there was a sports oval.

Was this a _school?_

She hesitated inside the trees for several seconds, trying to decide what to do. This… wasn’t what she had expected.

She looked down at the tracking device she’d spent the past few weeks building. It was saying the anomaly was dead ahead. It looked to be aligning with that old building.

She put it back in her pocket and stepped clear of the trees, making her way up the hill in the open. There was nowhere to hide anyway, and at this point she almost wanted to be caught by whoever was in charge of this place, just so she could find out who they were. Why would there be a school here completely unmarked on any map, in an MiB red zone, sitting on the type of unclassifiable anomaly her system honed in on?

She walked up to the heavy front doors of the building, climbed the few steps to the porch, and tried the door. It opened, and she stepped inside to a tiled floor entranceway, the hallway stretching away through the building, ceiling fans spinning, with decor that certainly looked like a school. There was a trophy cabinet to the right, and framed photographs on the walls with rows of smiling children.

“I see you’ve found me, Agent Em.”

She repressed a yelp and jumped sideways. Stepping out of an office immediately to the right of the front door was none other than Agent Tea. He looked a little older, his hair a little greyer, and his suit was no longer the regulation black, rather a lighter shade of grey, but he looked tanned and healthy.

“Agent Tea—”

“No longer Agent Tea,” he corrected. “Retired, remember? It’s Principal Thomas Gray now.”

 _Thomas._ She’d never known his first name before. She couldn’t stop staring at him, in shock. The last time she’d seen him… the last time she’d seen him had been at the funeral. She quickly skated her mind away from those thoughts.

“What are you doing here?”

“Why don’t you sit down?” he said, leading her into his office. It was all leather and dark wood, and suited him better than the black and white of MiB headquarters, she thought, though she did notice the array of security screens showing CCTV of the front gate and the driveway. He must have been sitting here watching her coming. She took a seat in front of his large, neat desk, and he poured her a glass of water.

“So,” he said, sitting down behind the desk. “Briefly, this is a school for refugee children.”

Em glanced at one of the framed class photos propped on his desk, and noticed that the _children_ came in all shapes and sizes. “Intergalactic refugees, you mean?”

He nodded. “Precisely. I set it up many years ago. It’s supposed to be hidden from all sensors and all MiB systems, because some of the children would be highly valuable targets. So I’m rather interested in how you managed to stumble across us, Em.”

Em sipped the water. “Ah,” she said. “Well, _briefly_ , I have a system that tracks anomalies, normally in space, but it kept fixing on this location. So I, erm, I requested leave to take a holiday, and came to check it out.”

A small smile crossed Tea’s— _Thomas'_ —expression. “I see. Well, I might need you to go into more detail about that system later. Not to detract from your abilities, but if one person can find us, others likely can as well, and I had been labouring under the misapprehension that we were entirely invisible.”

Em didn’t miss the hint of annoyance there, and felt her ears heat up slightly with both vague pride but also embarrassment. “Of course. Er—sorry, sir.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “Anyway, Em, listen. Since you’re here, there’s... there's something I need to tell you.”

“Sir?”

A knock on the door interrupted them. It opened, behind her, and Thomas quickly said, “Not now, I’m just speaking with a visitor—”

“It won’t take a second, I just need to check whether you approved that expense report?”

Em spun in her seat. That voice—it couldn’t be—she turned and the door was slightly open and a man was standing there in a sports shirt and shorts and sneakers and he had Henry’s face. Henry’s face, Henry’s voice, Henry’s eyes, Henry’s—

“Henry, later, please,” Thomas said through his teeth.

“Alright.”

The man shut the door and Em sat frozen, her world shrinking to that space in the doorway where he had stood. It couldn’t be. It _couldn’t_ be.

She was on her feet and across the room to the door before she knew what she was doing. She barely heard Thomas’ yell of “Em, wait!” behind her as she threw the door open and dashed out into the hall. As she ran down the hallway, looking left and right, the building was no longer quiet, it was now full of the sound of children, feet moving back and forth, voices talking. A bell rang, and children spilled out of a classroom ahead of her. There was a staircase to the left, and there seemed to be more noise coming from up there, and an instinct told her to go that way. She turned and sprinted up the staircase, her feet pounding on the hardwood steps as she spun around the half-way landing and up to the next level, then—

“Arg,” she choked as someone seized her by the collar and practically lifted her off her feet.

“Oh—sorry!”

It was him. “I thought you were a student!” he said quickly, as he put her down. “It’s, er, no running in the halls.”

She looked up at him. He apologetically fixed her collar and stepped back. “Are you alright?”

She took him in properly. He looked tanned, and more blonde than she remembered, his blue eyes even more stunning with the contrast, and he looked healthy and fit, his biceps huge in the white tennis shirt; he looked great.

But how could he look like anything? He was _dead_.

“Fine,” she managed, realising he’d asked her a question.

“I’m Henry, by the way,” he said, sticking out his hand. She shook it automatically. He didn’t remember her—there was not even a trace of recognition.

“Em,” she said faintly.

“You’re an Agent, are you? You must be replacing Vee?”

She didn’t know what he was talking about but it didn’t seem to matter. He talked on anyway, the way he always had.

“Vee always seemed vaguely disapproving of our operation here. I’m sure you and I will get along much better. I suppose I’ll be taking you for the inspection, later? We’re doing up the tennis courts next week, they’re getting a bit worn down. Everything needs a bit more maintenance in this humidity. The grass grows so fast it’s like—are you alright?” he paused and frowned at her, and Em wondered what she must look like. She felt like crying.

“Henry,” Thomas’ voice came from behind her, slightly out of breath from hurrying up the stairs after her. “Why are you talking Em’s ear off, don’t you have a class to teach?”

“Oh, yes sir.” He smiled at Em before turning and making his way down the hallway away from them. She stood staring after him until he disappeared into a classroom down the end of the hall, and only moved when Thomas put a gentle hand on her elbow and led her back down the stairs.

With the door to his office shut behind them again, he made tea in silence while she sat wiping her eyes in front of his desk. When he finally set the tea in front of her and returned to his seat, she took a deep breath and spoke with a slightly unsteady voice.

“How?”

“It’s a long story,” Thomas said. “And I never intended it to work out this way. It was the only way to save his life.”

“But he died in that factory. The whole thing blew up, there was no way anyone could have survived.”

“The only way to stop the Traxians at that point was from within their vortex dimension. Henry went in.”

“But he would have known what it would do to him.”

Thomas sighed. “I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t get to him in time. He sacrificed himself for the planet.”

“So how…”

“He managed, somehow, to get the vortex to spit him out a safe distance from the explosion. It was pure luck that I found him in time; he only had minutes. The vortex was... consuming his mind." Thomas squeezed his eyes shut momentarily. "I neuralised him to save him. I took the whole year, to be sure there was nothing I missed.”

So, the entire time she’d known him.

“What does he think happened?”

“Even with the neuralisation, he was critical for a long time. I wasn’t sure the memory wipe would hold, so I had to make sure there was nothing around that would remind him. Em, if he remembers what happened, it will kill him. When he was able to leave hospital, I took him here. I moved my retirement plans slightly forward. He believes he suffered a serious injury on a mission, which is true, and he’s aware that he’s lost some memory, but perhaps not as much as is truly the case. He wants to go back to field work, eventually, but in truth he’s still recovering. He’s a teacher, here, and he’s happy.”

She heard the warning tone in his voice. Thomas had always been protective of Henry, so she supposed she wasn’t surprised. “What are you saying?”

He sighed. “You are a major reminder of that time he lost. He doesn’t seem to recognise you; that’s good, but it doesn’t mean he won’t. I know you want to see him, and a little bit probably won’t hurt, but I have to ask you… You can’t let him remember.”

His words made her feel like darkness had fallen around her. She suddenly wished she’d never come here, never investigated. Not knowing would be better than this; knowing he was here and having to walk away.

“You want me to leave?” she asked, her voice wooden.

“Yes,” Thomas said resolutely. “But not straight away. First I need you to recreate that algorithm that let you find us, and then help us set up a defence system to make sure no one else can do the same. It protects the children, but it also protects Henry. Can you do that?”

She nodded, trying to keep her breathing under control. “It will take time.”

“How long?”

She shrugged. “A few weeks.”

He nodded. “If you're happy to stay here, I’ll send someone for your things—that is, if you have more than that backpack in the bushes out the front?”

“Yeah, fine," she shrugged. "I was staying at Hotel R in the town.”

He nodded. “I'll send someone to get your things later. We have spare staff quarters upstairs. I’ll show you.”

She followed him up to the third floor in silence. Above the level with classrooms was a smaller floor with rooms for live-in staff. Thomas unlocked the door to one and gave her the key, pulling out bedding from a linen cupboard and sitting it on the mattress for her.

“This is one of the larger rooms,” he said, and waved a hand at the desk in the corner. “Will this be enough space?”

She nodded silently.

“I’ll send someone up with some equipment later. Write a list of whatever you need.”

“Okay.”

“I have to go to teach a class now, but we’ll talk later, alright?”

“Alright.”

He turned to leave.

“Thomas.”

He paused.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He sighed. “Because if I had, I knew that there would have been nothing that could stop you from seeing him again. And I couldn’t risk it.” Pain crossed his face momentarily. “I couldn’t lose him. Not after everything.”

She was forcibly reminded that she wasn’t the only one who had been close to Henry. Thomas had been like a father to him for years before she’d even met him. Her own stewing anger and bitterness was suddenly subdued. She nodded.

He closed the door quietly behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I think I’ve depressed myself slightly (lol) - I promise the whole story isn’t so angsty :p
> 
> Has anyone else picked a first name for T yet? I've gone with Thomas because it sounds suitably old-fashioned enough, but tbh I'm still not 100% sold on it. (I keep thinking of the character from Mozart in the Jungle whenever I read it, somehow).
> 
> Please comment and let me know what you thought, chat with me [on Tumblr,](https://roqueamadi.tumblr.com/) or check out my [sideblog dedicated to H/M](https://mibhandm.tumblr.com/) ^_^


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